Art of color photography



FI Nl. WARNER.

ART 0F COLOR PHTOGRAPHY.

APPLICAIION FILED IMIA le, IIIIU.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

UNITED STATES FLORENCE M. WARNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AM or coton PHOTOGRAPHY.

S'peeication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

Application led January 16, 1819. Serial No. 271,516.

To all fwhom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, FLORENCE M. WARNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at 17 East 35th street, New York city, county of New York, and State of New York have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Color Photography,-

fully described and represented in the iol-4 lowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the saine.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of producing photographs in natural colors, and the invention has for its especial object the production of transparent positive photographs in natural colors from a negative taken of a subject on a sensitive plate provided with a color screen having a regular recurring pattern oi' lines, dots or figures.

It has been proposed in the art of color photography to produce positives in color from negatives taken through a color screen having a regular recurring pattern of lines,- dots or figures. In this method a negative istaken' through a lined screen on a sensitive plate separate from the screen, and a positive is made from this negative and viewed through a screen similar to the taking screen. This method is open to the objection that it is impossible to get the optical contact between the taking screen and the sensitive surface ot' the plate, and owing tothe number of the lines to the inch4 which it is necessary to use (from 200 to 400) to obtain color results this lack of optical Contact caused a parallax error which resulted in the production of positives which showed imperfect colors when viewed with the viewing screen. To overcome this parallax error it has been proposed to produce the negative on a special sensitive surface superposed directly on the color screen itself. The negative obtained by this method is, through a complicated series of steps reversed to a positive. While good positives may be `obtained by this method, the method has the drawback that but one positive can be obtained. It has further been proposed to produce a negative on an emulsion superposed directly on a plate having a color screen of regular recurring lines, dots or figures, and making a positive from this negative on asimilar sensitized color screen plate. Positives produced by this method, however, are unsatisfactory, and are difficult to make due to the fact that the exposure has to be made through the colors of the two screen plates, and this has been found so diflicult to accomplish as to make the method impracticable.

I have devised a method, novel, so far as I know, for overcoming the difculties and drawbacks of the methods referred to by which I can successfully produce positive transparencies in any number and in natural colors from a negative made on a screen plate havingthe sensitive `emulsion on the screen plate itself.

I have discovered that positives in any number may be made from a negative taken on a sensitive plate having a colored screenof lines, dots or figures, by making a monochrome positive from such a negative on a panchromatic plate, that is, a late -having an emulsion sensitive to all co ors, so as to produce the true black and white condition, if the positive is taken under what may be termed balanced conditions of light and emulsion. By this balanced conditions is meant balancing or compensating the sensitivcness of the emulsion and the rinting power of the light. As an illustration, if a negative were made under acetylene or nitrogen light for a given emulsion, the same emulsion could not be successfully used with daylight, but a different emulsion equally sensitive to the three primary colors of the screen plate through which the positive isV printed would have to be employed. This Vbalancing of conditions may be .effected either by the use of a compensating filter or by adjusting thecolor sensitiveness of the emulsion to the particular source of light used for effecting the impression.

In carrying out my invention, I may proceed as follows, the description being read in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one method of effecting the objects of the invention.

In these drawings- -Figure 1 is an outline of a subject to be photographed.

Fig. 2 is a face view of a negative of the subject taken on a lined screen plate the emulsion being shown removed to illustrate the screen.

Fig. 3 is a face view of a monochrome positive taken on an unlined plate from the negative of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a face view of the monochrome positiy(` of Fig.3 superposed on a lined plate similar to the lined plate of Fig. 2, the

screen of 4 and the monochrome positive, each being partially removed to show the relation of' the superposed plates.

A negative is made on a plate produced by coating a screen plate, such `as shown in the patent to Powrie No. 802,421, dated October 24, 1905 having a pattern of recurring lines of the three primary colors, green, blue and red, with a sensitive emulsion, the emul sion beinA placed,directly on the colored lined surace of the plate. As shown in Fig. 1, the subject chosen for illustration is a red flower 1, with green leaves 2, in a blue pot 3, standing on a black table -1. An

'exposure of this subject is made on a screen plate having alternate parallel lines of red, marked 5, green marked 6, and blue marked 7. This exposure is made in a camera equipped with a compensatingr filter, that is, a filter which renders the action of the light passing through the red, blue, and green elements of the screen, substantially equal. This negative after exposure is developed and fixed in the usual manner, and there is produced a negative image in colors complementary to those of the subject. These colors are indicated by the lines, the black lines 8 being the lines through which the red lines of the screen have let pass thered light of the red fiower 1 and exposed the sensitive coating of the plate. The emulsion over the green and blue lines 9 and 10 has been unacted on so that when the negative has been develo ed and fixed these'lines will appear clear. he same action occurs for the green leaves. the silver emulsion over the green lines in this instance being exposed and'being indicated by the black lines 11, the emulsion over the blue and red lines 12 and 13 being unexposed; and the same action has occurred in the negative of the bowl, the silver emulsion over the blue lines having been acted on and forming the black lines indicated at 16, the emulsion over the green and red lines 14 and 15 having been unacted on. None ofthe silver emulsion over the lines back of the black table of the plate has been acted on and the silver is unexposed, this condition being indicated by the lines 17. From this negative a positive is printed on a plate having apen-chromatic emulsion, that is, an emulsion sensitive to all colors, so as to'produce a monochrome having a good black and White condition, that is, in Which a true black and white is obtained, and not a black or white tinged with color. In printing this positive, any source of light may be employed. Preerably this would be an artificial White light, such as that produced by acetylene gas or that produced by the well known nitrogen lamp. There the printing is to be effected by such light, the emulsion of the plate will be of such character that it is equally sensitive to the green, blue and red of the negative screen and in such case the compensatie filter may be omitted in the printing. 1%, however, the printing is to be effected by natural li ht, I use a compensating filter of any We l known type, this filter rendering the emulsion equally sensitive to the three colors of the screen, and where such filter is used no change in the emulsion is necessary. I prefer, therefore. to provide a plate with an emulsion equally sensitive to the three colors Where the light used is to be A`acetylene or nitrogen or a similar White light, and if other light is used to employ the compensating filter.

This monochrome positive is then developed and fixed in the usual manner and with the usual developing and fixing agents. After developing and fixing, the mono'- chrome positive appears as shown in Fig. the red fiower appearing in lines 18 and 19. the lines 18 corresponding to the lines 8 of the negative of Fig. 2, and the lines 19.corresponding to the lines 9 and 1() of negative of Fig. 2; similarly the green leaves appear in lines 2O and 21, the lines 2O corresponding to the green lines 11 of the negative of Fig. 2, and the lines 21 corresponding to lines 12 and 13'of the negative of Fig. 2: similarly with the blue pot in which the lines 22 correspond to the lines 16 of the negative of Fig'. 2 and the lines-23 correspond to the lines 14 and `15 of the negative of Fig. 2, and the table 24 is a black silver deposit covering all the lines, as shown at 17 of Fig. 2.

I then superpose the positive plate in registered position with a color screen similar to the screen through which the negative was taken, such as the lined screen of the Powrie patent just referred to, this screen presenting parallel lines 25, 26, and 27 of aiternate red, green, and blue colors. The two plates are superposed and adjusted with respect to each other, and mounted together. When properly adjusted the subject photographed will appear as a transparency in its original dolore as will be well understood by those skilledin the art, and this condition is illustrated in Fig.Y 4. As shown in this figure the monochrome positive and the -lined screen plate Vare so adjusted that the lines 18 of the red portion of the subject are superposed over the red lines 25 of the screen plate; the reen lines 20 are superposed over the green Ines 26 of the plate, and the blue lines 22 are superposed over the blue lines 27 of the plate.

It will be seen by my method of procedure that a very simple method has been devised by which any number of colored transparent positives may be reproduced from a colored negative With great accuracy and With 4a minimum of necessary steps and expense, and with little liability of failure.

While the method described by me is the preferred one, and I prefer to use a lined plate as distinguished from a plate having a recurring pattern other than lines, it will be understood that my invention is not restricted io a lined plato, hut can be used with a wide variety oil plates in which the eolor screen has varying regular recurring patterns of igures other than lines.

that I Claim is:

1. The method of producing a positive transparency in natural eolors` which (ronsists in making a negative oi' a suhjeet on a sensitive plaie ha ving a eolor screen oi' difn ferent rolored elements.` making a monoehrome positive from this srreen negative on a plate coated with a jainehromatie emul sion` and mounting the nioiuiehroine posi'- tive in registered position n ith a color screen similar to the srreen through which the negative was taken 2. The method oT ln'oduring a positive transparent photograph in natural colors, which consists in making a negative of a subject on a sensitive plate having a color screen in the form of a regular recurring pattern of lines, dots or figures in the three primary Colors7 making a monochrome positive from this negative on a plate coated with a panehromatio emulsion` and mounting the monochrome positive with a color screen having the saine regular recurring pattern of lines dots or iigures through whieh the negative` was taken,

3, The method ot produring a transparent positive photograph in natural eolors.` Whirh consists '1n making a negative of a suhjeet on a sensitive plate havingl a Color screen of different Colored elements, making a monochrome positive 'from the negative on a pan- Chromatio plate under balanced Conditions of light and emulsion, and mounting .the monochrome positive with a color screen similar to the screen through which the negative was taken.

4. The method of producing a positive transparent photograph in natural colors` whirh eonsists in making a negative oiE a suhjeet on a sensitive plate having a color sereen o'I dili'erent eolored elements. making a nionorhrome positive i'roin this negative on a panehromatie plate through a Compensating filter` and mounting the monoehrome positive in registered position with a rolor screen similar to the sereen through which the negative was taken.

.5. The method ol' prodiirimgIY a positive tramaparenriv in natural rolors. whieh on sisls in niah'ing a negativo oi a uhiei'l on :i sensitive plate haring a rolor seri-en. of dil'- l'erent rolored elements. making a mono ehi-ome positive Vfrom a negative on a sur-A ilare roatull with a sensitive panehromati(l emulsion. and mounting the nn'inoehrome positive in registered position with a color screen similar to the screen through whirl] the negative was taken.

6. The method of produeing a positive transl'nirenov in natural Colors` which consists in making a negative of a suhjeet on a sensitive photographie support having a sereen of different colored elements` making a inonoehrome positive from this screen negative on a sensitive support. and mount* ing the nii'moehrome positive in registered positiini with a eolor sereen similar to the sereen through Whieh the iwgative was taken,

in testimony whereof`y l have hereunto set my hand, in the presenee of two subscribing witnesses.

FLORENCE M. VARNER. Vitnesses B. M. BERKoWTZ, JOHN H. PowRlE. 

